Bataville was a documentary detailing a coach journey of British ex-factory workers of the shoe company Bata, to the headquaters in Zlin, Czech Republic. The artists/directors Nina Pope and Karen Gunthrie wanted to illustrate the contrast of the idealism of Bata, with the industrial decline of the factories in East Tilbury and Maryport. Our group felt that Pope and Gunthrie were trying to show that Bata had lost its humanity by replacing these employees with machines (to quicken the pace of productivity), as the ex-employees explained how much they enjoyed working at Bata, and that it was more than a job, it was a community, and infiltrated all aspects of their lives. The film was very nostalgic about an era when work was more that a 9-5 job, and the remeniscing of the ex-Bata employees demonstrated their grief over losing their jobs.
We took the view that the collaborators were Pope & Gunthrie, the ex-factory workers, the Bata company and the camera crew. However, I evaluated as to how much of a collaboration it was, as Pope and Gunthrie planned and organised every aspect of the trip, including the vetting of the workers who went on it (as they made them fill out a form as to why they deserved to attend the trip, and from that, selected an equal number from each of the two factories). It was a succesful project in so much as the ex-workers who went on it got really involved and entusisatic about the 'pilgrimage' style trip. However, due to the heavy handed directiorial style of Pope and Gunthrie, I believe they were more participants, than collaborators.
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